Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
I think I didn't post this one before.
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My first visit to a famed disorderly Boston nexus, Journeyman Restaurant. The space is a converted warehouse. Seating is divided into two areas: one with tables and the illusion of walls, and one that is about 30' of bar with wide-open kitchen frontage. You know where I sat.
Tse Wei and Diana are the chefs and they are busy. Numerous sous-chefs are also busy but they appear to be doing more kitchen-continuity activities - sling a rack of ribs from the brine to the smoker, mix a batch of sauce in the fancy blender, etc.
As I peruse the wine menu I get a friendly punch on the arm. It's my friends Bruce and Karen, who have come to Journeyman tonight, too. This is completely unexpected and delightful. (Is the world really this small?) And it's particularly funny because both of us have complained about not being able to get a rez, not wanting to deal with the drive, etc etc etc, and then here we are on the same night.
Dinner was already going to be fun.
Back to the wine list: I cannot resist a bottle of Dom. de Belliviere 2010 Coteaux du Loir "Rouge Gorge": stern, serious, but not harsh, the white pepper scent is much in evidence.
We also had two glasses of Cornelissen Suscaru 5: one open for 3 days and one opened just now. The one opened now is full of tutti-frutti and old lady's handkerchief while the three-day-old one is all iron and nut skins and tangy acidity. I think I'm with Tse Wei and Diana in preferring the 'older' wine.
And the plates start:
Apples
- curds & whey
apple sticks poking up from a dollop of whey, refreshing and simple
Celeriac Creme Caramel
- matsutake & celery
the mushrooms were torched, interesting flavor/texture match, I like it when chefs find interesting ways to use 'ordinary' flavors (...I vividly recall a batch of celery ice cream once served to me at "Marseille")
Beet
- Island Creek oyster, watermelon, radish, & rye bread
the oyster is dressed with beet, juniper, and blackberry sorbet; first amazing dish of the evening because people usually set the oyster front and center but this plate used the chew and the brine instead of featuring it
Bay Scallops
first bay scallops of the season, dressed with fried garlic chips and splashed with nasturtium sauce; an extra plate because we are we; a study in texture and color... crisp garlic chips, soft scallops, and the brilliant green bitter sauce; incredibly good (even if the garlic chip was slightly inharmonious with the sauce)
Mackerel
- sorrel, asian pear, & daikon radish
again, great interplay of the seafood and bitter green flavors; it's nice to have mackerel without scallions
Razor Clam
- salsa verde, ham, & saffron
...and red pearl onions, one of my favorite seafoods, yum
Carrot
- black rice & black trumpets
my memory is not clear on this one but I recall it as another texture study, this time between the carrot and black rice
Rose Veal
- sweetbreads, cashew gastrique, & delicata squash
...and XO sauce; here the texture is the soft veal against the crispy-outside sweetbreads, but the flavor combination is also wonderful, esp. when you hep up the morsel on cashew sauce
Ginger
- ginger milk, apple sorbet, & heirloom apple
reminiscent of an apple pie without all that sugar
Apples
- almond cake, mace ice cream, & butterscotch
absolutely fabulous almond cake, reminds me of the marzipan-backed pates de fruit made at Versailles; mace is a bit delicate for ice cream, I think
Mignardises
Averna marshmallow, macaron, truffle, 'caramel', miniature cake
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My first visit to a famed disorderly Boston nexus, Journeyman Restaurant. The space is a converted warehouse. Seating is divided into two areas: one with tables and the illusion of walls, and one that is about 30' of bar with wide-open kitchen frontage. You know where I sat.
Tse Wei and Diana are the chefs and they are busy. Numerous sous-chefs are also busy but they appear to be doing more kitchen-continuity activities - sling a rack of ribs from the brine to the smoker, mix a batch of sauce in the fancy blender, etc.
As I peruse the wine menu I get a friendly punch on the arm. It's my friends Bruce and Karen, who have come to Journeyman tonight, too. This is completely unexpected and delightful. (Is the world really this small?) And it's particularly funny because both of us have complained about not being able to get a rez, not wanting to deal with the drive, etc etc etc, and then here we are on the same night.
Dinner was already going to be fun.
Back to the wine list: I cannot resist a bottle of Dom. de Belliviere 2010 Coteaux du Loir "Rouge Gorge": stern, serious, but not harsh, the white pepper scent is much in evidence.
We also had two glasses of Cornelissen Suscaru 5: one open for 3 days and one opened just now. The one opened now is full of tutti-frutti and old lady's handkerchief while the three-day-old one is all iron and nut skins and tangy acidity. I think I'm with Tse Wei and Diana in preferring the 'older' wine.
And the plates start:
Apples
- curds & whey
apple sticks poking up from a dollop of whey, refreshing and simple
Celeriac Creme Caramel
- matsutake & celery
the mushrooms were torched, interesting flavor/texture match, I like it when chefs find interesting ways to use 'ordinary' flavors (...I vividly recall a batch of celery ice cream once served to me at "Marseille")
Beet
- Island Creek oyster, watermelon, radish, & rye bread
the oyster is dressed with beet, juniper, and blackberry sorbet; first amazing dish of the evening because people usually set the oyster front and center but this plate used the chew and the brine instead of featuring it
Bay Scallops
first bay scallops of the season, dressed with fried garlic chips and splashed with nasturtium sauce; an extra plate because we are we; a study in texture and color... crisp garlic chips, soft scallops, and the brilliant green bitter sauce; incredibly good (even if the garlic chip was slightly inharmonious with the sauce)
Mackerel
- sorrel, asian pear, & daikon radish
again, great interplay of the seafood and bitter green flavors; it's nice to have mackerel without scallions
Razor Clam
- salsa verde, ham, & saffron
...and red pearl onions, one of my favorite seafoods, yum
Carrot
- black rice & black trumpets
my memory is not clear on this one but I recall it as another texture study, this time between the carrot and black rice
Rose Veal
- sweetbreads, cashew gastrique, & delicata squash
...and XO sauce; here the texture is the soft veal against the crispy-outside sweetbreads, but the flavor combination is also wonderful, esp. when you hep up the morsel on cashew sauce
Ginger
- ginger milk, apple sorbet, & heirloom apple
reminiscent of an apple pie without all that sugar
Apples
- almond cake, mace ice cream, & butterscotch
absolutely fabulous almond cake, reminds me of the marzipan-backed pates de fruit made at Versailles; mace is a bit delicate for ice cream, I think
Mignardises
Averna marshmallow, macaron, truffle, 'caramel', miniature cake